Scientists continue to produce more and more evidence showing both the dangers of global warming, and its link to our continued over-production of carbon dioxide. This article examines exciting new research that demonstrates methods being developed to safely capture excess carbon dioxide, which - together with a shift to renewable energy - could help in our battle against global warming.

We continue to enjoy huge advances in solar PV panel and renewable energy storage technology. Scientists in China have recently demonstrated that solar cells coated with graphene can harness rain to generate electricity in the absence of sunlight. Development of these into solar panels that work in the absence of sunlight, may provide an even more effective alternative to fossil fuels for people in the UK, and other rainy parts of the world.

As 2016 promises to be a pivotal year in the development and sales of batteries for the storage of renewable energy, we take a look at steps that GE and E.ON are taking to integrate batteries into both the large-scale and domestic solar power market.

Buried waste in our landfill sites decomposes anaerobically to generate methane which is 23 times more damaging for the environment than CO2. The UK is starting to find alternatives to landfill in order to meet our emissions targets. Buckinghamshire has now started to process some of its rubbish to generate electricity that can be fed back into the grid.

Fifty seven percent of the world’s population currently has no access to the internet. Google are planning to launch a fleet of solar-powered balloons, containing wireless routers, to hover at altitude and provide internet to remote and rural areas of the world that are not currently on-line, and offer the security of a stable internet service in the event of natural disasters.

At SolaSave we survey a range of properties for customers who are interested in solar installation. Some of the properties we see are more shaded from the sun. In many of these cases we have successfully installed innovative “CIS thin-film” solar panels. This panel technology significantly overcomes the decreased annual energy yields of conventional silicon solar panels for shaded properties and provides supplies of solar power that our customers are delighted with.

Storage of solar energy could provide practical and financial solutions in our move away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy. This article examines hydroelectric pumped storage systems, cryogenic storage and lithium batteries.

Techniques for purifying lithium and for optimising its effectiveness in batteries means that lithium is a valuable commodity that could revolutionise the way that we harness renewable energy in the future. This may bypass our need for fossil fuels.